The gaming industry is a billion dollar-a-year business. Profits are high, but overhead expenses, including the energy required to heat and cool a casino 24 hours a day, and the energy required to supply power to the gaming machines, can be staggering. With current energy supplies strained, and the cost of power is skyrocketing, gaming profits are being depleted. The displays of most gaming machines are back-lit by flourescent lamps. Flourescent lamps use a considerable amount of energy and produce a lot of heat. Further, when these lamps are provided with too much current, light output weakens and becomes irregular. Many circuits have been designed in an attempt to drive flourescent lamps and cold cathode flourescent lamps more efficiently (U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,405, U.S. Pat. No. 5,854,543, U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,121, U.S. Pat. No. 5,959,412, U.S. Pat. No. 6,118,221). Replacing standard flourescent lamps used to back-light gambling machines with cold cathode tubes driven by an energy efficient, reliable circuit that produces little heat would prove to be a profitable savings for the gaming industry.
All patents, patent applications, provisional patent applications and publications referred to or cited herein, are incorporated by reference in their entirety to the extent they are not inconsistent with the explicit teachings of the specification.